How Job Candidates Are Using AI to Create Fake Resumes

Have you ever hired someone and wondered how they made it through your interview process? Back in the day, people had to actively work to embellish their resumes. Today, it’s as simple as logging in to ChatGPT, entering a few pieces of information, and relying on artificial intelligence (Ai) to instantly create fake resumes.

AI is Changing the Way We Do Business

Everyone is talking about AI and how it’s helping businesses do more. Well, here’s the thing… Anything that makes your life easier, makes your competitors’ lives easier too. And anything that makes a lot of people’s lives easier means eventually your life becomes harder.

According to Forbes, 61% of companies use AI to optimize emails, 56% use AI to improve the customer experience, and 42% use AI to write website copy (in case you’re wondering, this is a real human writing to you today).

The majority of business leaders expect this will have a very positive impact on their business – making them faster, increasing sales, and saving money.

While the potential benefits of AI certainly sound appealing, there are major issues too. Most people don’t understand AI – where it pulls its information from or how it’s being used to impact the content they’re seeing.

Businesses that can’t afford to stay on top of the latest AI trends may worry about how they’ll keep up with their larger competitors. But the worry about AI doesn’t stop there…

Like It or Not, Job Applicants Are Using AI Too

If employers are using AI to make their lives easier, you can be sure job applicants have caught on to this trick too.

Most job seekers know they need to customize their resume to match a job posting if they want a chance of making it through the initial screening process. This can be a tedious and time consuming project.

Alternatively, AI resume builders promise to be fast, easy, and more likely to get you hired. Who wouldn’t want to use this tool?

Unfortunately, job seekers relying on AI could end up with a fake resume filled with inaccurate information. Strangely, they could even have the exact same resume as another candidate who used AI to write their fake resume. 

A Harrowing Example

Ready to have your hiring world turned upside down? We tested AI to see if it could build a resume that would advance to the interview round for a local HVAC company.

We glanced at the HVAC Service Manager job posting, filled out a few ChatGPT prompts, shared the link to the job ad, and almost instantly it spit out a resume that appears to be professionally written and speaks directly to the job posting. While there are some areas to customize, it’s pretty solid for a few seconds of effort. 

Next, we tried something that will really shock you. Job seekers know recruiters want to see metrics and data, percentages and dollar signs. And since we already know the average recruiter only spends 6-8 seconds looking at an application, it’s critical we include these types of stats.

So we told ChatGPT to add metrics to show results achieved. Note: we didn’t actually tell ChatGPT any metrics. Instantly, it added stats that would make our resume stand out among the other candidates: improved overall service department productivity by 20%, achieved a customer satisfaction rating of 95%, and reduced service call response times by 15%. WOW! This sounds great.

Only none of it’s real.

After adding in personal information like name, address, and job titles, we’re done. What’s left is a very clean, very fake resume. And all it took was filling out a few prompts and pasting a link to a job posting.

Candidates know if they can get a seat at the interview table, they’ll likely be able to land the job. If you’re looking to fill your team with high-quality talent that fits your company’s culture, you can’t ignore this new trend. Next time you’re hiring, be on the lookout for AI-generated fake resumes.

Uncovering Fake Resumes 

A quick disclaimer. We don’t think job seekers are using AI to generate resumes on a regular basis. We’d like to think the majority of people are goodhearted, truthful, and honest. But, we also know people are desperate to find a leg up or make things a little easier.

“Most resumes on this planet are garbage, just like most job postings.”

– Ryan Englin

Now that you know some job seekers are using AI to create fake resumes that will likely slip through your screening process undetected, what do you do?

It’s actually pretty simple. You build a better hiring process. You can’t just quickly screen resumes and hope for the best. Getting high-quality employees comes down to being disruptive.

  • Stand apart from your competition to attract the right people
  • Interview intentionally to uncover authentic candidates
  • Improve your onboarding process to retain an engaged team

At Core Matters, we utilize the Core Fit Hiring System to make sure you’re attracting, hiring, and retaining the right people. Following our unique job ad training, you’ll start attracting candidates that match your company’s culture and vision.

Our interview system will help you get to know people authentically. You’ll know exactly who you’re interviewing, so you’ll never have to worry about hiring the wrong person again.

If you’re ready to start hiring better people faster, we’re here to help. After all, the only way to attract real people and avoid fake resumes is by being real yourself.

We can help you define your company’s values and culture and turn your interview process upside down so you start attracting the right candidates and building the team you’ve always wanted. 

Learn more about the Core Fit Hiring System and how it can transform the results you’re getting in your recruiting process.